Advice re: CGFNS

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Specializes in Oncology, Palliative care.

I wonder if anyone can offer me any advice as I am at the point of giving up :(.

I am a English nurse here in the UK and submitted an application to the CGFNS back in February of this year to obtain the CES report in order to be made eligible to sit the NCLEX exam. I have had nothing but problems since the process began. Having being in receipt of my documents for some time they then informed me that my nursing transcripts were not acceptable.

As per their request, my school of nursing sent to them the additional information that they requested. That was 6 weeks ago. I have called them on several occassions and everyone I speak to on the phone is generally very rude and totally disinterested in trying to assist me with my enquiry. When I called a couple of weeks ago to check they had received my documents, the person I spoke to told me to ring back in about another month as my documents were probably sitting in their post room and waiting to be put on the system. 6 weeks on and there is still no acknowledgement of my documents when I log on to my status on line.

I have even emailed one of the senior supervisors who is supposed to be there to deal with complaints, she doesn't even respond to my emails.

I have paid a nursing agency to process my application and whom I thought was supposed to be sorting all of this out for me but all they do is keep emailing people and in the meantime, I am getting nowhere.

We will be moving to the US in March time of next year through my husband's job and I feel at the rate I am going I will have wasted all my years training as I won't be able to work as a nurse.

Can anyone offer me any advice as I am so totally fed up with the whole experience and at the point of just giving up :o

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Specializes in intensive care, recovery, anesthetics.

Hi,

I had and still have similar problems:) Don't give up!!!

If it's such a long time ago the letter from your nursing school might be lost. I strongly advise to send everything as signed for with a tracking number. I recently had to send sth twice because the first letter was lost somewhere. So ask if your nursing school would be so kind to send it again, but as signed for. Or they can send it a a sealed! envelope to you and you send it.

Customer Service: I had no problems with them very polite and helpful, but they obviously don't evaluate your docs. Since CGFNS is so slow recently I have the feeling they are short on evaluators, but that's just a guess.

And be patient, processing takes time up to 4 months sometimes, even when they say 8 weeks, in my case it was way much longer then that.

5cats

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Specializes in intensive care, recovery, anesthetics.

I forgot to ask you, do have a work permit? Since normally partners are only getting those "able to stay" visas, but they are not allowed to work.

I wondered about this.

5cats

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

CGFNS can be a nightmare. Even with me ringing them every month my status never changed until they had the stuff at least 8 months and suddenly it was released. On average you are looking at 4 months to go through the process but when additional paperwork has to be sent then it will get longer. I doubt there is a lot that can be done. As mentioned in previous post will you get a visa allowing you to work as we are seeing some cases of husband getting visa and wife not even for L1/2?

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Specializes in CTICU.

CGFNS' service leaves a lot to be desired. The only way I found to get things happening was to send certified mail, which you can track and prove that they have it. That doesn't make them take it out of the mail room and actually do anything though. And every time I called to ask something, the person on the phone would say "I don't know that, ma'am". It was SO annoying!

If it's "only" been 6 weeks, you might have to just sit tight. You could try faxing or mailing a written complaint - they never answered an email over the 8 months I was dealing with them.

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Specializes in Oncology, Palliative care.
I forgot to ask you, do have a work permit? Since normally partners are only getting those "able to stay" visas, but they are not allowed to work.I wondered about this. 5cats

CGFNS can be a nightmare. As mentioned in previous post will you get a visa allowing you to work as we are seeing some cases of husband getting visa and wife not even for L1/2?
.

Thanks for this point guys, which is rather worrying :( and I did not know about it as I said would be going via my husband's job. I think this is a point we need to explore and I will ask her immigrations advisor as it really worries me about not being able to continue working and I worry about de-skilling. So thanks again for pointing this out.

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Specializes in Oncology, Palliative care.
CGFNS' service leaves a lot to be desired. And every time I called to ask something, the person on the phone would say "I don't know that, ma'am". It was SO annoying!

This really made me laugh!!! as it is the one thing that makes me want to scream when I get off the phone as they keep calling me ma'am and are always so disinterested!! :lol2:

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
.

Thanks for this point guys, which is rather worrying :( and I did not know about it as I said would be going via my husband's job. I think this is a point we need to explore and I will ask her immigrations advisor as it really worries me about not being able to continue working and I worry about de-skilling. So thanks again for pointing this out.

Definitely need to get sorted now. Unless you get a visa allowing you to work you won't be able to. Sending you a pm

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Specializes in Oncology, Palliative care.
Definitely need to get sorted now. Unless you get a visa allowing you to work you won't be able to. Sending you a pm

Thanks SD, just replied ;) x

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Specializes in Oncology, Palliative care.

After calling CGFNS again today and hanging on for 20 mins (from England!) I eventually got through to an advisor who informed me that they were only just processing data that had come in at the beginning of Oct!

She said they basically work around one month in arrears so I was told to call back in another 2 weeks. It is just soooooo frustrating!!!!!! :banghead:

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Specializes in med/surg.

Go to Canada instaed - 8 months start to finish! Hehehehe!!

OK I know that's' probably not an option, I must say when I did my N-CLEX (was originally planning on the USA but retrogression made me re-think) I had no problems but I guess with things the way they are now it's going to be a a whole bundle of probs for people.

Hope it sorts out soon!

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Specializes in Oncology, Palliative care.

RGN1, I would love to go to Canada! It looks so stunning there with the breathtaking scenery but my husband is not to keen, he thinks I would not cope with the cold weather!!

If you are in Canada working as an RN does it make it easier with the process to then work in the US?

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